Early Seedling Growth and Accumulation of Proline and Phenol in Trigonella foenum-graecum Under Heavy Metal Stress

In the present investigation a study was conducted on germination, early seedling growth and accumulation of biomarkers like proline and total phenols in Trigonella foenum-graecum L. in response to stress induced by treating the seeds with different concentrations (5, 10, 15 mg/l) of two heavy metals, viz. , lead and cadmium along with the control (0) under laboratory condition. Both the metals showed toxic effects on germination and seedling dry biomass with their increasing concentrations as compared to control. Significant and gradual inhibitory effects of lead and cadmium on lengths of root and shoot, number of leaves per plant and leaf area were also observed in a dose dependent manner. Cadmium treatments showed lowest index of tolerance and maximum inhibition of growth parameters in seedlings of T. foenum-graecum at 15mg/l concentration as compared to lead. Although gradual accumulation of proline and total phenols in seedling leaves increased significantly with increasing concentrations of treated heavy metals as compared to control, cadmium exhibited more positive effect than lead.